A variety of electronic devices are configured to be portable and include a battery therein of a rechargeable variety to supply power to the device. Examples include cell phones, MP3 players, portable computers, tablet computers, electric razors, flashlights and a variety of other portable electronic devices. Such devices generally include a port thereon through which an electric cord can removably attach at a proximal end. This cord is then attached at a distal end to a source of electric power. Most commonly this source of electric power is a wall jack of a standard stationary power outlet, such as that found in a typical residence or other building with electric service (also called an AC power output receptacle herein). Such wall outlets generally include at least two slots into which prongs can be plugged to make an electrical connection to power supplied within such a wall outlet.
Because the electronic devices are battery powered, they are configured to run off of DC electric current. Electric wall power is typically AC. Thus, an adapter is located somewhere in the interconnection between the electronics and the power outlet in the form of a transformer to transform electric power from AC to DC, and also to regulate voltage. Most typically, such a transformer is located at the prong supporting structure at the end of the distal end of the cord opposite the portable electronic device. Often such prong supporting transformer structures (with the cord) are generally referred to as “wall chargers.”
Wall chargers come in a variety of different configurations, shapes and styles. While they will sometimes include a third ground plug, they quite often only include two similar prongs of a rectangular cross-section and elongate form spaced and configured to fit into the two slots of the power outlet. This transformer structure is also known in some instances to be removably attachable to the cord, but in other instances to be affixed to the cord permanently. In at least one embodiment, the cord has a coupling on an end thereof which is configured to match to a particular power and data transmission standard, such as the USB standard. The cord is configured with one portion of a male/female USB interconnector and a transformer structure supporting the prongs thereon is configured with the other half of the male/female USB interconnector. In this way, the same cord can be utilized for charging the battery, but can also be plugged into other devices when data transmission is desired.
With the proliferation of portable electronic devices, often an insufficient number of power outlets are available for the number of wall chargers to be connected thereto. A common option when such power outlets are limited, is to utilize a “power strip” or other intermediate device which has one power inlet and multiple power output receptacles. The number of portable electronic devices which can then be charged from a single wall power outlet is thus magnified.
A problem which is encountered with wall chargers, especially when utilizing a power strip, is that the transformer structure which supports the prongs thereon is often so large that when it is used it blocks an adjacent receptacle in the power strip. Furthermore, when a standard power outlet has a pair of receptacles one over the other, a transformer plug mass plugged into the upper receptacle will often block the lower receptacle. Also, transformer structures often have a cord extending downward therefrom which blocks access to a lower one of the receptacles of the wall power outlet or power strip receptacle power outlets. The arrangement of the cord causes interference so that not all of the receptacles of the power outlet or power strip can be utilized.
Accordingly, a need exists for wall chargers which have cord orientations which avoid blocking other power output receptacles or power strip. Such orientations benefit from not being directly away from the plug mass supporting prongs plugged into the power outlet, so that such a cable does not stick further away from a wall to which it is plugged and present interference with desks or other furniture adjacent to the wall or present a risk of being impacted by passersby and potentially becoming unplugged or damaged.